Tim Rooke breaks off in mid-sentence to offer an aside—"And let me also say: I have no interest in running for mayor"—before returning to the topic of the Springfield Police Department budget.
Rooke's comment is not the non sequitur it might appear; rather, it answers a question that's on the minds of local political observers. A 12-year veteran of the City Council, Rooke has emerged as first-term Mayor Domenic Sarno's strongest critic, questioning his former Council colleague's management abilities, budget acumen and general fitness for the difficult job of leading the troubled city.
Sarno, who defeated Charlie Ryan in a shocker last November, still exudes a newcomer's vulnerability, and challengers—councilor Jose Tosado is the most heavily trafficked name—are already positioning themselves for the 2009 election. But, Rooke wants to make clear, he's not one of them. "I'm just doing my job," Rooke says of his close scrutiny of the mayor. "I did the same thing under Charlie Ryan—I just agreed with him a lot more."
These days, Rooke is focused on the municipal budget, which was prepared by a Springfield mayor for the first time since the Legislature imposed a Finance Control Board on the city in 2004. Sarno's first budget process is being watched closely by the Control Board, which is scheduled to leave the city next summer, and by residents who remember his campaign promises. One of those promises—to eliminate the controversial $90 annual trash fee—quickly fell by the wayside. Sarno did, however, tout his success in filling another campaign promise: adding 50 new cops to the Springfield Police Department.
Hold your applause, says Rooke. As he pores over the $40 million police budget, he can only find eight new full-time positions, not the 50 Sarno promised. This year's SPD budget is $1.6 million higher than last year's, with more than half the increase earmarked for anticipated pay raises, Rooke notes. That leaves about $750,000 to hire "new" officers. But with each officer costing about $100,000 a year (in pay, benefits, training and equipment), the city would need $5 million to increase the force by 50, Rooke says.
While Sarno plans to transfer back to the streets 13 officers who are currently doing civilian work, many of those desk jobs will still, presumably, have to be filled, Rooke says. And while there are 19 future officers currently in the police academy, and another 32 funded for future academy classes, those slots were funded under Ryan and shouldn't be counted among Sarno's "new" 50," he adds.
"Where he's going to get the money to hire 50 new police officers?" Rooke wonders. "The money just isn't in the budget."
And, Rooke adds, Sarno should have known that back during the campaign, instead of making "self-serving and reckless promises" that he would hire the officers and kill the trash fee. "He talks about being fiscally responsible. The time for him to have been fiscally responsible was when he was city councilor and telling everyone he wanted to be mayor. He should have sat down with someone who has an idea of how the city budget works," Rooke says. "He obviously didn't know what he was talking about."
Sarno did not respond to interview requests. Rooke says the mayor has avoided questions about the budget from councilors, too, banning them from budget working sessions with department heads, ignoring their questions or responding to them through prepared statements.
While he insists he's not gunning for Sarno's job—"Things would have to get really bad to change the course I'm on," says Rooke, a vice president of an insurance firm—he has been poking around the local business community looking for someone who might step up to the challenge.
Any takers? "Unfortunately, no," Rooke says.
mturner@valleyadvocate.com
